Ritts/Hayden, the Los Angeles-based production house headed by executive producer Bill Hayden, has signed Australian director P.E. Goldman for exclusive commercial representation in the U.S. The signing marks Goldman’s first foray into the stateside spot market.
The Sydney-based director will continue to be repped in Australia by 8 Commercials, Sydney, where he is known as Paul Goldman. (He opted to use his initials in the U.S. market so as not to be confused with director Paul Goldman of bicoastal Cohn+Company.)
Goldman joined 8 Commercials in early ’99. The company also represents Ritts/ Hayden partner/director Herb Ritts and director Lance Kelleher in the Australian market. Hayden first became aware of Goldman through that association. "I’m a big fan of his work," the executive producer said. "Once I met him, I realized that our personalities matched very well."
The director, who has been helming spots for about six years, also pointed to "an immediate sense of trust and understanding" as his reason for joining Ritts/Hayden. "That’s a great foundation for a relationship," he said, adding that "Ritts/Hayden is a company I respect; [it’s] a company that has had their doors open for quite a while, and that is doing really good work."
Goldman studied film at the Swinburne Institute of Technology (now part of the Victorian College of the Arts), Melbourne. After graduation, he began helming music videos in Australia, the U.S. and the U.K., through both his own company, The Rich Kids, Melbourne, and London-based Media Lab.
In ’87, Goldman returned to Australia to serve as DP on Ghosts of the Civil Dead. John Hillcoat directed the controversial political feature, which toured the festival circuit and was released abroad. However, Goldman said, "At the end of my experience, I decided to trade my DP hat for a director’s hat."
At that point, Goldman returned to directing clips. In ’90, his music video for Elvis Costello’s "Veronica" won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video. Other notable clips include Costello’s "I Wanna Be Loved" and Berlin’s "No More Words."
Eventually, Goldman decided to explore the spot market. After joining Sydney-based Whoshotthat? in ’94, the director, a self-described "visual storyteller," decided to also take a postgraduate course in theater at Australia’s prestigious National Insti-tute of Dramatic Arts, Sydney. "I took some time to specifically hone my skills as a director," Goldman said.
He stayed with Whoshotthat? for three years prior to joining now defunct Black. He worked out of that company for two years, until its partners went their separate ways and the operation was taken over by bicoastal/international @radical.media last year (SHOOT, 4/30/99, p. 7). Goldman opted to join 8 Commercials, which had been courting him for some time.
Goldman’s spot credits include ads for Telstra telecommunications via DDB, Melbourne; ANZ fund management out of M&C Saatchi, Sydney; FOX Sports via Whybin Lawrence TBWA, Pyrmont, Australia; and Honda via Ammirati Puris Lintas, Sydney. The director also helmed "Prostate" for the Garvin Institute of Medical Research out of Batey Kazoo, The Rocks, Australia. That ad won a Gold World Medal for philanthropic appeals at the New York Festivals for Television & Cinema Advertising, and was recognized for outstanding creativity at the Mobius Advertising Awards, Elmhurst, Ill. A strikingly cinematic and ominous spot, "Prostate" shows busy business people walking through city streets, stepping over the bodies of men who have died from prostate cancer.
Goldman joins a directorial roster that, in addition to Ritts and Kelleher, includes directors Stewart Douglas, Anthony Easton, Mike Figgis, Jon Hollis, Daniel Kleinman and Sharon Maguire. The company is represented by Holly Ross of Los Angeles-based Red on the West Coast; Rich Newman and Sue Rosen of Rich Newman & Associates, Chicago, in the Midwest; and Peter McCann and Kathy Misrock of CMP, New York, on the East Coast.
